Afterlife
by snakepit
Summary: [LeviEren. Yaoi. Oneshot. Fluff. AU.] They met by the river; they died by the river – at least that's how the story goes.


Attack on Titan ; Rated M ; Yaoi  
I don't own anything.

/ Afterlife /

Have you ever heard the story; the story of Eren and Levi? I'd imagined you haven't – newcomers rarely know the tale. It's a sad horror story, one of those that you'd tell over a fire rather than over morning coffee. The kind of story that attracts tourists and fans, photographs spread across the internet and different stories go.

But I, I know the story – the true story. The one that I won't tell you over a fire, or a cup of coffee because it's never a story for those occasions. It was never supposed to be a story to tell.

It was an orange day when they met. Everything was orange; the leaves, the sky, the reflection in the rushing river. It was fall, October to be exact, and it was cold; Gods was it cold. The kind of chill that made your bones tremor.

Eren enjoyed it though, every moment of the gusting wind and the sting that the cold air brought to his face. He relished in the feeling of it, because you see, he had no other way to breathe. The kid was diagnosed with cancer – lung cancer, stage one and it was all thanks to his father. How could that be, you're asking; it could be that the father was a chain smoker, abusive and brought stress onto the tall brunette. It could be that his mother was dying of the same lung cancer and she was 8 months pregnant.

_One more month, sweetie_,

His father would tell her.

_One more month and you can let go_.

And let go she did. Right after their daughter was born she died from child birth. It may have helped if the father had taken her to a hospital instead of naturally letting her birth, but the father didn't seem to care much about his family. Now that there was another woman in the house, all that mattered was he'd be getting fed.

Eren had been 8 years old when his mother passed, and 10 years later is when his baby sister Mikasa had taken over the home. At just 10 years old, the father had directed the back of his hand from Eren to Mikasa – day in and day out until the father got a little too riled, a little too heated. Eren tried to stop him, tried to get the gun out of his hands.

_Bang; thud; screaming; ringing._

That's all he remembered, or maybe that's all he would tell you. He was never the easiest book to read. You could never tell when he was lying to you or not. The police couldn't tell that he was lying when he said, "_It was an accident_." Or maybe they just didn't care about a couple of people living in the middle of the woods in a log cabin. They weren't even technically on county property, so the law abided them none.

Months had passed that Eren still fell victim to his father's hands, until he decided to finally make his appearance known – the man, I mean. Levi. It was risky business, but he took the risk when he tapped his knuckles on that dingy door.

The person to answer was of course Eren's father, grimy and disgusting he was. Anyone would tell you he was nothing short of an eye sore. The man asked for Eren, though; and the father didn't question why because he just didn't care. Now, Levi had been confident his whole life, but when this kid stepped into the doorway it just seemed like his whole life was a lie because his knees were locked and his voice had gone weak.

_How do you know me?_

Eren had asked the man skeptically.

The man replied;

_I'm your neighbor. It's lonely around here, so I just dropped a visit. Names get around fast around here; my name is Lance Levi._

Lance extended his hand and relished in the fact that Eren had taken his with a smile. That had been the single happiest day of his life because the kid was talking up a storm to him, about everything; his father, his cancer, his sister and mother. Levi was furious by the time the sun was setting, but he knew he couldn't keep the boy any longer.

_I'll come back_.

Levi promised the boy.

Eren accepted his fruitless promise, because he didn't come back. Days had passed into weeks, into months – three months to be exact. Three months were enough to take a toll on an 18 year olds body and he was broken now. Considering the frequent beatings, and his father refused to supply him with the needed medication, he was sick – he was so sick.

He had thought he was at his wit's end until he stepped outside. This morning was grey. The sky was grey, the air around him was dull and bitter and even his eyes felt like they could be hollow and grey. The only color was the bright red blanket he wrapped around himself before slipping into the rocking chair on the porch.

It was hopeless, he thought, but still he waited every day for that man to come back. This grey day he did with many apologies at hand and ready to give; but Eren didn't want to hear any of that. He was delighted, and it was the first smile he had in months.

It's needless to say their time went by fast; but Levi once again promised for another arrival, leaving Eren nothing but the burning indention on his lips where Levi's had been and a charm – a silver necklace with a silver rose hanging at the end. It goes without saying that the necklace was Eren's prized possession now.

Levi had arrived the next morning; early that morning to find the withered brunette wrapped up in his blanket as per. It didn't take long for it to register that something was wrong, and it wasn't just the small droplet of blood making its way down Eren's chin. It was his eyes, his hollow eyes and his weak breathing, his pale skin and his bruised fingers.

He was bruised everywhere, and every other crook of his body was wrapped in bandages. It seemed every time Lance had made another visit, the kid had another bruise and bandage somewhere on him.

Eren attempted to inform Levi to get pills, water, something – but he was cut off with a wet cough – a wet cough that Levi had known all too well despite the blood splattering. He knew they didn't have time for that. It wasn't hard for him to scoop the brunette into his arms because the kid couldn't have weighed more than 90 pounds.

Levi carried him like a bride after her wedding; only it wasn't so merry. He carried him past the car parked idly in the front yard and past all of the tallest trees. The sound of crunching leaves echoed in Eren's ears but the sound of raspy breathing echoed in Levi's.

_Just a little longer_,

Levi informed him,

_I have to show you something_.

The brunette hummed a haunting noise – it wasn't scary, but it was weak and it was a dying gasp that barely made it past his lips.

_Just a little longer_,

Levi repeated, somehow managing to keep his chin up the whole walk.

The walk seemed eternal, as if he had been walking for hours but it was only minutes. The sound of crunching leaves was replaced by a familiar sound of rushing water, a river – a rapid one at that and Levi was standing dead in the middle, keeping his balance without even batting a lash.

Eren's eyes were barely open, but what he saw was nothing but orange it seemed. The sky was orange, the leaves were orange and the reflection in the water was orange. The body in front of him was even tinted orange in some spots. Some from the reflection of the sun, and some from decayed skin. Never the less, it was the most gruesome thing Eren had ever seen and he made that obvious with the expression on his face; like he was terrified for his life – he had no idea that he was dying.

_Why did you bring me here?_

Eren barely managed to ask. Levi kept his chin up, staring back at his own face. There was a short gasp and Levi only looked down to see those wide emerald eyes. He knew that Eren understood when he used all his strength to take a hold of that necklace around his pale neck, the same one that hung around Levi's disowned body.

_The necklace – you're…_

Eren's eyes were wide with what seemed to say disbelief and confusion. Levi didn't have enough time to read them before they fell closed, and this time the only gasp that released from the kid was his final. Levi knew that when he placed the brunette's body underneath his hanging body.

_I'm here with you, forever._

I told him that before I promised him I'd be back tomorrow. I knew he'd be here, and I knew he'd have questions, but for now he needed to rest.

The next morning, he did ask a lot of questions, a lot I didn't have answers to. He was in shock, like most people should be and he spent a lot of time looking down at his lifeless body, then to mine. I told him I hung myself a long time ago, because of my father. But the words I really wanted to say:

_It's nice to meet you, finally._

I don't know if they were right to say, but they tickled when they came off of my tongue. He only nodded. He went all day without saying a word, but he stayed with me, and we followed the river eventually. He eventually left his body.

That morning was orange, every morning after that was orange – for him at least. My mornings were always grey, and I was told they accompany me. I didn't want to ruin all of his mornings, so I tried to stay away but he kept coming back.

I don't know if he stayed with me out of confusion or because he didn't understand. Maybe it was because no one else cared, no one came looking for him but me. I don't know what made him stay, but that was a trait that I learned Eren had. He wasn't an easy book to read and I never could translate him. All I know is he stayed, and someone had to tell the tale of Eren and Levi. Someone had to care for Mikasa and their mother; someone was grateful for what I had done, and seeing their faces made me realize I quite enjoyed this life.


End file.
